The Throne (Book 4 of The Claiming Series)

Chapter Four

Class ends early because it's only the first day, so afterwards I zoom past the two giggling girls behind me, up the stairs to the hall, and towards the front door of the building. When I follow the herd of people outside, I see Eli sitting on the edge of the fountain. He's on the phone with someone. I stand on the top step of the building, frozen for a moment as I watch the other students either zip by him or notice him with awe.

Cathy and blonde girl (whose name I still haven't bothered to learn) shove past me suddenly, causing me to stumble down the steps and ultimately fall onto my hands and knees on the stone path laid out in the courtyard.

Embarrassment flushes my cheeks as I look up and notice people's attentions have turned to me.

So has Eli's. He immediately hangs up the phone and strides over to me.

He ignores Cathy and her friend waving stupidly at him.

He ignores the people taking pictures on their phones.

He just looks at me with concern and more.

People swarm by us.

I've sat back to examine my scratched-up knees and palms as Eli kneels beside me. "You okay?"

I blow a loose strand of hair out of my face. "Yeah," I grunt. Then I smirk. "Those girls who pushed me were just way too eager to meet you, I think. They couldn't stop talking about you."

Eli tilts his head. "Oh?"

"You're the talk of the campus."

Eli sets his backpack on the ground and rummages through one of the pockets until he pulls out a small packet of tissues. He pulls one out and starts dabbing at my bleeding knees. "And you are the clutz of the campus, it appears."

"Hey!"

He looks up at me, a glint in his eyes as he smiles.

******

"Has it been like this since your freshman year here?" I ask Eli as I examine my sandwich. "Like, all the girls fawning over you and all the guys wanting to be you?"

Eli looks like he's about to explode with laughter from across the little table we sit at in the food court of the Student Union. I got a sandwich from a sub restaurant, and Eli got a huge salad from a glorified salad bar on the opposite end of the food court.

"What?"

He shakes his head, and his laughing eyes seem to settle back to their kind, carefree nature. "Nothing. And no, it wasn't always like this. I think I was a lot more inconspicuous the last few years because Lily was next in line for the throne, so I was just a name without a face. Once the Bayfell dilemma happened and then my father... all the media went to me. I was public." He pauses. "I am public," he corrects softly.

"And are you okay with that?"

He shrugs as he stabs a clump of lettuce with a crouton hanging from the end of the fork. "I have to be. It comes with the job."

I finally take a bite of my sandwich.

I stare around at the other people in the food court. All young college students, laughing and talking with one another, or sitting quietly alone at their own tables on laptops or phones.

Another couple sits together at one of the booths along the wall. The girl is beautiful—wavy auburn hair just past her narrow shoulders, slim. Her boyfriend adores her. He sits close to her, his arm around her shoulders, and when she laughs, he kisses her cheek.